King of Dust

Chapter 35

The demon that crawled its way out of the earth lumbered toward Urien. A dark shield spell swirled weakly around Urien, but the monstrosity's claw slid straight through him and batted him across the square. Urien, having had a massive chunk taken out of his shoulder, wobbled there, looking on the edge of death. With a bat of the monstrosity's claw, Urien was knocked across the battlefield.

Liliya Sorensson went charging into battle, releasing Astrid from her grip. No fear. Her weapon lit up along with Ohaldin's symbol on her armor, shedding light as she charged at the demon. She missed the first hit, but the sword exploded in light on the second. Astrid ignored Liliya's request, despite having been told to fear the undead. Healing light radiated from her body and we each were touched by her magick. I looked down at myself, hoping to find minor bruises and cuts healed, but to no avail. Either she was wearing out or something else was wrong.

Yra did not get up. Her spell had worked before and my heart jumped in my throat. Did that mean he was dead? Honestly and truly dead?

Astrid's scythe did what it did best: soared through the air at dangerous speeds. It cut through the legs of the beast viciously. I put a hand up and aimed at the monstrosity, hoping to take it down. My spell flew through the air, intent of death on its wings, but the creature managed to step out of the way. Some of my necrotic death magick bubbled on its skin, but it had avoided most of the damage.

And Lazar just sat back. He landed on a nearby rooftop that was not engulfed in flame, and just watched with a smile on his face, making himself known to me again. What a smug bastard. The demon called down a ball of flame with one pointed, clawed fingertip. Urien was knocked to his knees, completely incapacitated by the blow. Reckoning lay by his side, glimmering dimly in the light. The rest of us were knocked asunder, into buildings and to the edges of the battlefield.

This did not deter Liliya. She charged back into battle again, whacking at the torso of the monster as if it were a tree trunk. She hit gloriously, radiant light exploding around her, not once, but twice. I remembered the scared little girl I had sent Urien and his compatriots after. This was not her.

Astrid cried out to her gods, praying for some kind of help. I don't know if it came. Her scythe sliced the shoulder of the demon. Magick flew from my fingertips again. It saw the spell coming, and it managed to dodge most of the blast. Lazar sat up as he watched from the rooftop. Was he getting nervous?

The demon had decided it had enough of Liliya. Its massive maw missed her as she dove out of the way. A clawed hand came down on her, though, and punched a dent in her armor. The creature's tail followed, knocking Liliya halfway across the battlefield. She coughed up blood. I could smell it even at that distance.

And yet, Liliya rose from where she had been hit, angry and determined. She charged again, a little bit of a limp in her step, this time. She missed. Her blade swung for the monster's torso, but it stepped aside. The second landed. It cried out in pain as the radiant light stung it.

Astrid rushed to Urien's side, despite the danger that it posed her, and touched him gently, hands alight with magick. He did not rise, but it was likely she saved his life. I had to do something other than just stand there. I panicked. There was nothing I could do. My magick was worthless and nearly depleted, my vampiric skills, gone. My eyes darted around the battlefield. There had to be something.

Reckoning.

I ran for it. My legs carried me at a Human pace across the battlefield and I slid to grab it, the blade's heat uncomfortably close. I hoped I wouldn't slip using it. I charged the monster and swung Reckoning, which lodged itself into the demon's thigh. Unfortunately, the blade did not explode with holy light like Liliya's. While powerful, Reckoning had not been made with holy intent. We fought side by side next to each other, and she seemed shocked.